Beyond the Stars
by starfishy97
Summary: One-shot. Amethyst tries to comfort Pearl after the disastrous events of Space Race.


She didn't hear it at first. She had to drag her body to the waterfall. Over the rushing waters, she heard the faint noise. Was it from Pearl's room?

She sighed. She _could_ go and see what's wrong. There was a chance Pearl wouldn't get all pissy at her for going into her room. Amethyst crossed her arms, _or she'll just yell at me._

Then a sob drifted to her ears. _She's crying…_

Amethyst groaned. Curiosity and slight sympathy convinced her to just take a small peek. She'll just stay out of Pearl's sight and check on her. In and out. The purple gem jumped into the cold water and swam to the top.

Her head barely floated above the water in one of the pools. Amethyst glanced around before spotting the taller gem on a higher level of water. Pearl sat, knees to chest, sniffling as she wiped her tears away. What caught Amethyst's attention was the strange outfit. The weird suit had blue hues that complimented Pearl. Amethyst wondered if it anything to do with why she and Steven weren't home lately.

She floated a little closer. Another tear fell down Pearl's face. _Should I say something? She hasn't been crying lately. I thought things were okay._

Amethyst lifted her head and took a deep breath.

"P?"

Pearl jumped, "What?" She looked down, "A-amethyst?"

"Yeah… I just heard something and- You alright?"

"Y-yes I'm fine," she hurried to rub at her eyes and nose.

"Oh… okay that's cool. I'll head out. Sorry to bother you."

"Amethyst, wait!"

The purple gem stopped mid turn.

"You're not bothering me. In fact, I might like the company… that is if you want to stay."

"Uh sure. I can stay."

Amethyst slowly emerged from the water as Pearl gracefully leapt down from her tower. She landed without a sound or splash. Barely a ripple was noticeable. Amethyst was silently impressed.

They stood awkwardly together. Why wasn't this easy anymore? When had she been so hard to read?

Amethyst kicked at the water, "Nice outfit."

"Huh?" Pearl glanced down. "Oh I suppose it slipped my mind to change when I came home."

"You were out pretty late. Not surprising since I haven't seen you around the temple."

She gripped at her arms, "Steven, Greg, and I were working on something…"

"Really? When did _you_ willingly want to start hanging out with Greg? You don't even like the guy!"

"I do! I mean I can tolerate him. It was Steven's idea to even have him around in the first place. Greg had the parts and Steven wanted to surprise me."

"With what," Amethyst chuckled, "new clothes? Didn't know our little man became a fashion expert."

"It wasn't that. I can dress myself," Pearl scoffed.

"Then, what was it?"

Pearl bit her lip, "It's going to sound ridiculous…"

"Aw, c'mon! I want to know!"

She sighed, "A spaceship."

"What? A spaceship?" Amethyst laughed, "No way! That's priceless!"

But Pearl wasn't laughing. She didn't even look mad. Only a look of sorrow remained with guilt in her eyes. Amethyst's laugh died out.

"Steven saw how much I missed exploring the galaxy. He wanted to build a rocket so I could travel again. Of course, his first attempt failed. So I stepped in and began to build my own model. I thought I could take him. Show him the wonders! But Greg was against it and said Steven must remain on Earth." Tears began to form in her eyes, "Then I did something awful."

"Pearl?"

She lowered herself to the ground trying to wipe away her tears, "I didn't mean to put us in danger! I just wanted to show him!"

"What do you mean?" Amethyst dropped down and grabbed her arm, "Pearl, what happened!"

"I finished the model. I was so excited about it my judgment was blinded. I tricked Steven into getting into the space ship. We were almost out of the atmosphere but the ship was falling apart. If it wasn't for Steven… we would have been inside when it exploded."

"Oh my god, is he-!"

"Steven's fine. No thanks to me…" her sobs returned, "Oh Amethyst! I feel awful! I almost got us killed! He was so scared!"

In panic, Amethyst threw her arms around Pearl. She tried to comfort her and rubbed her back.

"Hey! It's okay! You're okay. I mean you guys lived. Steven is safe."

She let the slender gem cry in her arms. Amethyst laid her head on Pearl's shoulder. As she continued to stroke Pearl's back, she closed her eyes. Amethyst couldn't recall the last time they've been so close. Moments like this were rare and far apart. No. She didn't want to think about that. She wanted to focus on the arms wrapped around her. Focus on the pretty scent that filled her nose. She just wanted to be there for Pearl. To be the one she confided in once again.

"I promised to keep him safe."

"You did. I mean you could have kept going. Instead you listened and saw how scared he was."

Pearl mumbled out some sort of response back. Much to Amethyst's dismay, she pulled away and sat straight.

"I'm sorry," Pearl whispered.

She shrugged, "No biggie."

They sat in silence. Amethyst struggled inside with her thoughts. She couldn't decide if it was time to go or to ask if Pearl was okay again. It was hard to think when their bodies were touching. She tried to think of something, desperate to savor the moment.

"I didn't realize you missed space so much."

"I've always had. It was like a secret wishing in the back of my mind. I never listened until..."

Amethyst clenched her fist. Was she going to say _her_ name? Was this about Rose too?

"…until it was an actual possibility. I thought to myself, why haven't I created my own ship long ago? Then I remembered I had other priorities. Important ones like Steven... Garnet... You."

Pearl kept her eyes down but that didn't stop the teal color from blooming in her cheeks. Amethyst was glad or else she would have the deep violet in her own face.

 _Me? I'm important to her?_

Pearl shrugged, "I don't know. I just wanted to see what had changed after all this time. It's been millenniums since I've been up there. I wonder if the places I loved are as beautiful as I remembered."

"Like the one place where they had crystallized plant life."

She turned to Amethyst. Her blue eyes wide and mouth slightly dropped

"You remember?"

"Well, yeah duh." Amethyst swirled her hand in the pool of water focusing on the ripples, "You guys told me stories _all_ the time. All the adventures and places you've seen. They were cool I guess. I remember some."

"Yes, I can recall. I would ramble all the time to you. You never seemed to mind."

"Well it wasn't a big deal. I kinda liked them."

Love. That was the word she wanted to use. Amethyst loved their stories, especially Pearl's. The way her eyes sparkled and how animated she became. It was like Amethyst could see who she really was in that moment. Not the gem who became a serious warrior in battle or bitterly jealous when humans came around Rose. It was just Pearl and she was happy.

Back then and even know Amethyst didn't blame her for wanting to go back. The galaxy sounded amazing. So many places she could see and things to experience. Rose would go on and on about how amazing Earth was but to Amethyst, space sounded so much cooler. She secretly pined to go there one day.

"You did," Pearl smiled. "You seem to enjoy them more than Steven. He gets distracted when I talk about the history. He doesn't understand how much it ties in with them. I suppose after a while I stopped."

"Yeah I know."

Pearl winced. Amethyst mentally smacked herself. _Ugh you're supposed to making her feel better!_

"I know I've haven't been the easiest to deal with."

Amethyst shrugged, "We all have bad days. I ain't either."

She felt a something touching her hand. She quickly glanced down. Pearl placed her hand over Amethyst's.

"Come with me."

Her head snapped towards Pearl, "What?"

They met eyes. Amethyst felt her face burn as those sky blue eyes bore into her.

"I need someone to travel with if I ever find a way to safely return to the stars. With Steven 'grounded' for now and I doubt Garnet would want to go back..."

"Psssh, yeah right! You get so tired of me! We wouldn't last." Amethyst tried to laugh it off. She didn't know how to deal with the offer. Did it mean something else between them?

"I believe we could." Pearl rubbed her thumb over the back of Amethyst's hand. "Look at us. I'm enjoying your company. Are you enjoying mine?"

"Y-yeah."

"Good."

Gems didn't need to breathe. Pearl always reminded her. That didn't stop the feeling of all the air being sucked out of her form when Pearl placed an arm around her shoulders and leaned against her. Amethyst kept still afraid to move and disturb the gem on her. Their fingers interlocked together and she heard a happy sigh.

 _This feels weird but right..._

"I missed this."

"Me too," Amethyst barely whispered.

"So, what do you say Amethyst?" Pearl murmured into her hair.

She imagined it. They were side by side. The stars became brighter as they drew closer. Amethyst would finally see something other than Earth and then she look over at _her_. Pearl's eyes would shine just as bright and she would finally be happy.

"Yeah," Amethyst cuddled closer, "I'll go."


End file.
